Pegasystems’ (PEGA) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Citigroup

Citigroup reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. Citigroup currently has a $66.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on PEGA. JMP Securities raised their price target on Pegasystems from $55.00 to $62.50 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $52.50 price target (up from $42.50) on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays raised their price target on Pegasystems from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $62.50 price target on shares of Pegasystems in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on Pegasystems from $47.50 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.36.

Pegasystems Price Performance

Pegasystems stock opened at $53.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a PE ratio of 51.77 and a beta of 1.11. Pegasystems has a one year low of $28.31 and a one year high of $56.84. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.88.

Pegasystems Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.23%. This is an increase from Pegasystems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Pegasystems’s payout ratio is presently 5.83%.

Insider Transactions at Pegasystems

In related news, Chairman Alan Trefler sold 31,500 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction of $3,176,145.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 17,027,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,716,922,350.36. The trade was a 0.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kenneth Stillwell sold 35,426 shares of Pegasystems stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.68, for a total value of $1,582,833.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,920,793.20. This trade represents a 45.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 306,530 shares of company stock worth $15,550,231 over the last 90 days. 49.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pegasystems

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PEGA. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 150.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 85.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. CX Institutional acquired a new stake in shares of Pegasystems during the first quarter worth $36,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 139.7% during the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 549 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Pegasystems by 50.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 599 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. 46.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Pegasystems

Pegasystems Inc develops, markets, licenses, hosts, and supports enterprise software in the United States, rest of the Americas, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company provides Pega Infinity, a software portfolio comprising of Pega Customer Decision Hub, a real-time AI-powered decision engine to enhance customer acquisition and experiences across inbound, outbound, and paid media channels; Pega Customer Service to anticipate customer needs, connect customers to people and systems, and automate customer interactions to evolve the customer service experience, as well as to allow enterprises to deliver interactions across channels and enhance employee productivity; and Pega Platform, an intelligent automation software for increasing efficiency of clients’ processes and workflows.